The modern construction of folding cabriolet tops which comprise a plurality of solid roof parts, and can be stowed automatically in a rear region of the vehicle, is generally accompanied by the problem of a large number of parts moving in relation to one another. In order to release a stowage space for the folding top in the rear region during an opening movement, use is often made of a rear element which can be pivoted open counter to the direction of travel, a rear-window shelf arranged in front of the rear element being provided in a separately pivotable manner in order to achieve a collision-free movement sequence. The pivoting of the rear-window shelf here allows the rear roof part to move into the stowage space.
DE 44 35 222 C1 describes a folding top in which the rear roof part is pivoted open, in the first instance, in the direction of travel, whereupon the rear element can be opened counter to the direction of travel without a separately pivotable rear-window shelf necessarily having to be provided. The disadvantage with the solution presented here is that both the rear roof part and a central roof part, which adjoins the rear roof part in the direction of travel, are articulated separately in each case on the bodywork of the vehicle. In order not to collide with the central roof part during pivoting in the direction of travel, the articulations of the rear roof part comprise extendable hydraulic cylinders in order to raise the rear roof part over the central roof part. Such activation is not just complex and costly, but also susceptible to malfunctioning. In addition, it is necessary to have further means for fixing the rear roof part when the folding top is closed since the hydraulic cylinders which, at the same time, form bearing links of the roof part, are not invariable in their longitudinal direction. In order to prevent an even greater number of drive arrangements, it is proposed to lock the rear roof part to the central roof part in a position in which it has been pivoted over the central roof part. In respect of automated folding-top opening, however, it is also necessary to have high-outlay hydraulic or electromechanical means for this purpose.
DE 100 06 296 C1 describes a three-part hard-shell top for a cabriolet vehicle in which a central roof part is connected to a bodywork of the vehicle by means of a link mechanism, both a front roof part and a rear roof part being mounted on the central roof part in each case via link mechanisms, and it being possible for the front roof part to be moved over the central roof part and for the rear roof part to be moved beneath the front roof part and over the central roof part. Such an arrangement provides for unfavorable stacking of the roof parts and, if at all, can only be realized in the manner presented, with essentially planar roof parts. If, for example, the rear roof part comprises C-pillars of the vehicle, or if the roof parts are to be stacked in a different order, then the technical realization quickly comes up against limitations, at least when as large a proportion of the roof-part movements as possible take place in a positively controlled manner in relation to one another.